Netflix Canada TV Show Spotlight: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

When it was announced last spring that Andy Samberg would be headlining his own show on FOX, I wasn’t very optimistic. As a big Saturday Night Live fan, Samberg was never my favourite cast-member on the show (although not my least favourite).

Heading into the fall ahead of the show’s premiere, the trailers and commercials for it also weren’t doing much for me either. But after waiting until the show was a few weeks into its run, I fell in love after giving it a shot.

Very few shows are as strong, competent and fully formed in their first season as Brooklyn Nine-Nine. By the time the show hit mid-season, it knew exactly what it is, what it wants to do and never looked back.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, instead feels like a show that has been on TV for the past decade and you’re just now getting around to it. It’s the perfect workplace comedy that’s very silly and very funny but not something that’s easy to dismiss.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a part of the “struggling sitcoms” genre on TV. You know, like New Girl, The Mindy Project, Parks & Recreation… basically, the comedies that aren’t The Big Bang Theory (akathe shows no one is watching). Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which comes from the mind of Parks & Rec creator Mike Schur, is in the same vein as the shows mentioned above.

That being said though, it took those shows well into their second season to find their groove. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, instead feels like a show that has been on TV for the past decade and you’re just now getting around to it. It’s the perfect workplace comedy that’s very silly and very funny but not something that’s easy to dismiss.

Why is the show so strong? Because a) the writing is so good and b) the cast is fantastic.

Remember how I mentioned that I wasn’t sold on Samberg leading a show? Well, I was so wrong. SO WRONG.

In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Samberg is charming, funny and so confident in his role as Detective Jake Peralta that he’s been able to win over a lot of his critics (oh and win himself a Golden Globe, no big deal). The rest of the cast is great as well, but the spotlight shines bright on Samberg, his love interest Amy Santiago played by Melissa Fumero, Chelsea Peretti and Andre Braugher. In fact, seeing how the entire cast works so well together with the spectacular writing makes this sitcom constantly one of the funniest shows on TV.

In addition to that, Brooklyn Nine-Nine happens to have the most diverse cast of characters on television and, as a result, is surprisingly progressive. The LGBT characters are far from stereotypical sitcom clichés and are as prominent and important as the heterosexual ones. It is filled with different ethnicities, cultures and racial backgrounds that give it a surprising amount of depth. As well, it’s also loaded with female characters that kick ass and don’t rely on their male counterparts.

Shocked that all of this has come from an Andy Samberg sitcom on FOX?

Watch it and be pleasantly surprised.

Jordan is a Film, TV and pop-culture journalist based in Toronto. You can follow him on Twitter at @JordanApps